Ondo Finance and Pantera Capital Launch $250M Catalyst Fund For RWA Tokenization

A $250 Million Bet on the Future of Finance

Ondo Finance and Pantera Capital announced a $250 million initiative aimed at accelerating the development of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. Called Ondo Catalyst, the fund is designed to fuel startups and protocols building the next generation of tokenized financial products and infrastructure.

The Catalyst initiative seeks to close the gap between traditional finance and decentralized finance by investing in projects that bring real-world assets—such as stocks, bonds, real estate, and private equity—onto blockchain rails. Unlike synthetic products or derivatives, the goal is direct tokenization of financial assets to unlock liquidity, accessibility, and real utility.

Nathan Allman, Founder and CEO of Ondo Finance, called it a “fundamental upgrade” for the global financial system.

“With Ondo Catalyst, we’re fueling the transition from closed, permissioned systems to an open, onchain economy,” Allman said. 

Backed by Institutional Firepower

Pantera Capital, one of the earliest institutional investors in blockchain, is anchoring the Catalyst fund. The firm has a track record of backing key players in every crypto cycle. Its involvement lends both capital and credibility to Ondo's RWA ambitions.

Pantera’s Managing Partner, Paul Veradittakit, didn’t mince words about the scale of the opportunity:

“ Tokenization of traditional financial assets is the largest shift in infrastructure since electronic trading, and Ondo is at the forefront of it with the right traction and partners."

While Pantera will independently evaluate opportunities across the market, Ondo Catalyst will specifically back projects that integrate into the Ondo ecosystem, focusing on protocols, platforms, and infrastructure that can scale tokenized finance.

Catalyst Is Open for Builders

The $250 million Catalyst Fund is now live and actively seeking visionary founders and teams building for the future of finance. Ondo is particularly interested in projects developing:

• Tokenized financial instruments, from real estate to bonds
• Developer platforms and DeFi protocols that extend the utility of tokenized assets
• Infrastructure including compliance, identity, custody, and data layers

Ondo believes that the next evolution of capital markets will be transparent, interoperable, and permissionless. Through Catalyst, the firm wants to empower developers building those foundations.

This comes as regulators and institutions begin to take tokenization more seriously. Ondo is engaged in ongoing discussions with U.S. policymakers to help craft frameworks around tokenized assets—an effort that could help bring legitimacy and compliance-ready infrastructure to the space.

Infrastructure to Power Onchain Capital Markets

Ondo Finance has spent the last year building the groundwork for tokenized capital markets. In early 2025, it launched Ondo Global Markets, giving crypto wallets and DeFi apps 24/7 access to tokenized U.S. securities. The platform is backed by the Global Markets Alliance, a coalition of heavyweights including Solana Foundation, Fireblocks, BitGo, Trust Wallet, and 1inch.

This week’s announcement builds on that momentum. Notably, Ondo is also working on its own Layer-1 blockchain network, called Ondo Chain, specifically built to support RWAs. This purpose-built chain will focus on regulatory clarity, identity solutions, and high-throughput operations for financial-grade use cases.

Real-World Assets Are Gaining Steam

The tokenization of real-world assets has become one of the fastest-growing sectors in crypto. A June 2025 report from RWA.xyz, RedStone, and Gauntlet shows that the RWA market has surged 380% since 2022, hitting $24 billion—excluding stablecoins.

Ondo is already a market leader in this space. Its OUSG and USDY tokens, which represent tokenized U.S. Treasury securities, have a combined market cap of $1.4 billion. Just last month, Ondo launched OUSG on the XRP Ledger, allowing users to mint and redeem the token using Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin, with real-time access around the clock.

Other big names are entering the arena. Robinhood, Bybit, Kraken, and Gemini have recently begun offering trading in tokenized U.S. equities. BlackRock and Franklin Templeton now issue tokenized money market funds.